PATIENT INFORMATION AND OBTAINING INFORME D CONSENT IN LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY

Since the advent of laparoscopic surgery, the number of suits against surgeons has risen. One of the most frequent complaints is the lack of sufficient information. Physicians in France have a formal obligation to provide information in the contractual legal context established s ince 1936. This notion has been confirmed in several court cases. The requirement for patient informed consent has been confirmed by several decisions of the Appeals Court and is stated in the code of deontolog y. The value of classical oral information has been recently questione d in certain court cases. We analyse the current legal situation in Fr ance and try to define the content of information required in the case of laparoscopic surgery in addition to the way this information is pr ovided and the means of obtaining informed consent. The information pr ovided must be personalised. The patient must informed that laparoscop y remains a surgical operation. It is licit to warn the patient of pre dictable risks according to statistical probabilities, of the team's e xperience and of the patients own status including past history and ps ychological factors. A written statement may be prepared but must rema in a document complementary to personalized oral information. The surg eon must obtain and assure good patient comprehension. The surgical co mmunity should publish risk rates in order for surgeons to have reliab le references which can be used to define the notion of exceptional ri sk.